The changing quality of life 1917-80 Flashcards
Issues with farming post WWI?
Prices fell, and continued falling due to overproduction due to subsidised farmers and mechanisation - farmhands sacked. boll weevil hurt cotton growers
Issues with industry post WWI?
Strikes to gain better working standards ended in failure, with some businesses closing, coal demand decreased
What percentage of energy was created by coal in 1900 and 1930?
90% and then down to 60%
Issue with government reaction to events post WWI?
Isolationist tariffs meant that exports fell
What caused a boom to do with production?
Mass production caused goods such as cars and radios to be made quicker and cheaper, this in turn caused transportation industry to boom as materials and products were moved around
How did new management techniques cause a boom?
Individual workers were made very efficient at their job, and also paid good wages to stay around
How did federal polices aid the boom?
Minimal government intervention in industry and low taxes caused American goods to be cheap so people bought them
How did hire purchase and loans aid the boom?
As it was seen as acceptable to have a loan with hire purchase schemes like Sears, people bought more things even if they didn’t have the money
Consumer debt in 1920 and 1929
$3.3 billion and then up to $7.6 billion
How did changing industry help the boom?
Need for electricity for goods caused new need for electricity to be bought to homes - 1917 8m homes, 1930 25m homes
Which 2 terms sum up why the stock market grew in the 1920s?
Bull Market and buying on the margin
What foreshadowed the Wall Street Crash?
Increasing unemployment in 1927 and goods piling up in warehouses
Why was laissez-faire still followed during the Wall Street Crash?
Things were fine in the end in 1919
What fraction of banks in 1929 were bust in 1933?
1/3rd
What should one call the market in October of 1929?
A Bear Market
What did Roosevelt do about the banks when entering office?
He closed all of them and only reopened FED-approved healthy ones
How did demand aid affluence post WWII?
Increased demand for consumer goods due to lack of money spent on these during the war lead to production increasing $71 billion between 1945-50
How did government intervention aid post WWII affluence?
Truman’s strength in threatening to draft miners and rail workers into the army caused no strikes in 1952
How did the baby-boom aid post WWII affluence?
Industries such as nappy and toy ones grew - new consumers
Nappy sales in 1947 and 1957?
£32 million and then up to $50 million
How did Congress aid post WWII affluence?
1949 National Housing Act cleared slums and built new houses (810,000 of them), and GI Bill helped train workers
What happened after the Office of Price Administration was shut down in 1946?
Inflation rose by 25%
How did Truman’s love of setting up new groups aid affluence post WWII?
Employment Act of 1946 created Council of Economic Advisors for the President
How did changing attitude aid affluence post-WWII?
Consumerism was positively patriotic
How many children under 15 was there in 1950 and 1960?
43m up to 57m
How did suburbia aid affluence post WWII?
Houses were cheap to build, so were built, and cheap to buy (sometimes as low as $7,000) so people could spend more money elsewhere
How can America been seen to falter economically during the 50s?
Other nations (like Japan) were better at building things (like small transistor radios)
Number of homeowners in 1920 and 1940?
6,700,000 and 20,000,000
Number of renters in 1920 and 1940?
13,000,000 and 15,000,000
How did production change of luxury goods after WWII?
Lots of different colours and variations, as well as less sturdy goods so they needed to be replaced more often
Percentage of homes with TV in 1950/55/60
9% and 65% and 85%
How did an enjoyable evening change in the 1950s?
As people had TV and ‘TV dinners’ they could stay at home and have an enjoyable time
How did advertising change in the 50s?
More focus on certain groups, in particular children
How much money did Davy Crockett racoon-skin caps make in 1955?
$100 million
How did Americans health change after WWII?
They became less healthy as they craved things missed during the war
Pre-tax Coca-Cola sales in 1950 and 1959
$56m and $79m
How did teenagers spend most of their money?
Transportation - cars (38% overall), clothing and sports (24%), Food and drink - more than adults and helped dairy industry with ice cream (22%) and entertainment (16%) - movies like The Blob (1958)
Percentage of people who owned their own homes in 1940 and 1960
44% and then up to 62%
What was the problems with the dollar during the 60s?
Price of dollar tied to gold price since 1944, and with inflation increasing money supply was the only way to avoid a crash, like in 1966 when the supply was reduced
Why was stagflation more of an issue for some than others?
While some jobs such as miner had wages linked to CPI, those who didn’t had major issues
What was the US’s output of the world’s manufactured goods in 1953 and 1973?
29% down to 13%
What was the issue for US businesses trying to expand in the 70s?
High business taxes, and inflation made buying goods expensive, as well as decreasing productivity
Why was government action ineffective in the 70s?
They were fearful of public rage, and had large levels of spending with social service payments linked to CPI (including Vietnam veterans), money supply contained in 1979 by Federal Reserve, not by government
What was life like in a fuel crisis?
Long queues for fuel, speed limit of 55mph and in first crisis of two fuel rationing with ration books
Why did fuel prices increase in 1973?
OPEC embargoed USA for supporting Israel in Arab-Israeli War, prices still four times as high as there were after the war had ended in Jan 1974
When was the second fuel shortage?
May to July 1979
Why were the fuel shortages so damaging for the government?
Many could drive before drinking and voting so seen as vital, and due to government stockpiling people began to see government as making things worse
Inflation in 1978 and 1979?
5.8% and 7.1%
What did Carter do to try to halt the fuel crisis?
1979 fireside chat style talk, crisis in confidence speech, as well as austerity measures on defense and elsewhere to avoid more government debt
What occurred in general with wealth in the 60s?
Divides increased between rich and poor, manager and worker
1960 average income for white and black family
$5,800 and $3,200
Percentage of suburbs in 60s which were black
4%
Why was life bad for many in the inner cities?
Subdivided or rented houses were left to rot or burnt down by landlords claiming insurance, and planned shrinkage caused lack of facilities
Proportion of people on welfare in South Bronx in 70s?
Well over half
What did LBJ do to tackle poverty?
War on poverty, agency with 130 staff and $960m
What were CAPs?
Community Action Programmes such as free clinics for pre-natal mothers, which collated evidence of an issue in their area and presented solutions to them
How did Nixon change welfare?
Workfare not welfare, closing down of Office of Economic Opportunity and increasing food stamp scheme alongside linking welfare to inflation
What are examples of Nixon’s changes to welfare?
Earned Income Tax Credit giving families working $400 a year, as well as Family Assistance Plan of 1970, supporting controlling family number and reducing welfare payments
What was set up to help the poor in 1978?
National Consumer Cooperative Bank offering cheap loans to cooperative organisations in urban areas, helping those that work grow
What was set up in 1981 to help the rural poor?
Rural Development Loan Fund giving grants to community projects such as clinics or electrification
How did Carter change policy in his last two years?
More interest in tax cuts to grow business, but public and Congress had lost faith already
Industries which gained in the 1920s
US chemicals as well as electricity industry with consumption more than doubling
Facts for general productivity gain in 1920s
Industry increased by almost 100% and a car every 10 seconds for Model T in 1925
Importance of car manufacturing
1927 7% of manufacturing earners were in automobile production, with one car for every fifth person in 1929
Facts showing US issues in mid-1932
Trade was 30% of 1929 levels and industry was half that same level, unemployment at 25%
Failures of New Deal
11m still jobless in 1934, 10m in 1939
What happened when spending was cut in 1937?
Crash was worse than 1929, with industrial production down a third and national income down a tenth, Roosevelt has to ask Congress for a $3.8bn spending package
Facts showing help of war to economy
1.2% unemployment in 1944, profits of farmers doubled during war
3 reasons for affluence
Cheap oil helped transport, Americans had saved during war, more scientific development aided productivity
US GNP in 1950 and 1960
$350bn up to $490bn
Number of cars manufactured in 1955
8m
Growth during JFK
20% GNP increase, 22% industry increase, 15% personal income rise, but some 1961/2 slowdowns
Problems of late 1960s economy
Trade deficit tripled between 1966-67, inflation started with no increase in productivity
Benefits of 1920s for workers
Real wages up by a third
1920s who didn’t benefit
Textile workers and coal miners, farming with decline in international demand, blacks
Weekly earnings loss with Great Depression
1/3rd
New Deal saving grace agency
Federal Emergency Relief Act of 1933 - jobs not welfare
People with poor standards of living post-1936
Dust-bowl dwellers and ‘one third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished’
WWII limit to standard of living
1942 General Maximum Price Regulation - rationing on some goods
Example of success in suburbs
Levitt Brothers in 1947 with Hempstead in Long Island, 17,000 homes at $8,000 (expensive) but high standard of living with double space of normal home
Examples of critics of consumerism
JK Galbraith in The Affluent Society, 1958, Americans cared more for themselves materialistically than poor, and David Riesman who saw consumerism as undermining traditional American values such as hard work
Nixon’s attempts to fix the economy
New Economic Policy of 1971 put in wage-freeze and devalued dollar, but woes continued, with further devalue in 1973 then wage and price controls abandoned and prices rocketed
1976-77 issues for economy
Harsh winter led to gas shortage and closure of schools and factories in East to conserve fuel
1979 woes for petrol
Half of stations had no gas, prices were 50% more than 1978
Spending on leisure in 1919 and 1929
$2.5bn up to $4.3bn
3 fazes of entertainment in 1920s
Mahjong in early 1920s, then crossword puzzles, then mini golf by 1930
Number of speakeasies in NYC in 1929
32,000, double that of before prohibition
Number who saw 6-part World Series Final in 1921
300,000
Changes made to make sport better
Redesigning baseball to a standard more lively version in 1925
Examples of interest in college football
1928 University of Michigan with 87,000 person stadium, knowledge of Knute Rockne with 13 years as coach, winning 80% of games for Notre Dame
When was NFL formed and when did it grow?
1920, then when ‘Red’ Grange moved from college to NFL Chicago Bears in 1925 things took off
First Super Bowl
1967
Evolution of baseball post-WWII
1947 Brooklyn Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson, first black MLB player, Dodgers and NY Giants moved to West for financial reasons in 1950s, and 1970s Latin American players became popular
When were planes used more than trains and cross-Atlantic steamships?
1955 and 1958
Growth of air flight in 1950s
Douglas DC-6s took 50 passengers from NY to LA in 10 hours
Growth of flight in 1960s
Mid 1960s 50% travelled for pleasure, not business, and passengers tripled through 1960s
Issues for flight in 1970s
Fuel crisis quadrupled plane fuel price
Loss for domestic airline industry 1979-83
$1.2bn
